For we are the Phantoms. The ghosts you you thought you saw. This is the world where all is possible and all is real...
So take a my hand and you will see all the wonders of this circus we call home...

Monday, 8 April 2013

In mid-20th Century America, a typical circus traveled from town to town by train, performing under a huge canvas tent (“The big top”). The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus was no exception: what made it stand out was that it was the largest circus in the country. Its big top could seat 9,000 spectators around its three rings. The tent’s canvas had been coated with 1,800 pounds (820 kg) of paraffin wax dissolved in 6,000 US gallons (23,000 l) of gasoline, which at the time was a common waterproofing method.

On July 6th,1944 a fire began as a small flame after the lions performed, on the southwest sidewall of the tent, while the Great Wallendas were performing. Circus Bandleader Merle Evans is said to be the person who first spotted the flames, and immediately directed the band to play “Stars and Stripes Forever”, the tune that traditionally signaled distress to all circus personnel. Ringmaster Fred Bradna urged the audience not to panic and to leave in an orderly fashion, but the power failed and he could not be heard. Bradna and the ushers unsuccessfully tried to maintain some order as the panicked crowd tried to flee the big top.

An estermated 185 people lost their lives and over 700 people injured.

Because of the paraffin wax waterproofing of the tent, the flames spread rapidly.and many people were badly burned by the melting paraffin, which rained down like napalm from the roof. The fiery tent collapsed in about eight minutes according to eyewitness survivors, trapping hundreds of spectators beneath it. While many people were burned to death by the fire, many others died as a result of the ensuing chaos. Though most spectators were able to escape the fire, many people were caught up in the hysteria and panicked. Witnesses said that some people simply ran around in circles trying to find their loved ones, rather than trying to escape the burning tent. Some escaped but ran back inside to find family members. Others stayed in their seats until it was too late, assuming that the fire would be put out promptly, and the show would continue.

Because at least two of the exits were blocked, by the chutes used to bring the show’s big cats in and out of the tent, people trying to escape could not bypass them. Some died from injuries sustained after leaping from the tops of the bleachers in hopes they could escape under the sides of the tent, though that method of escape ended up killing more people than it saved. Others died after being trampled by other spectators, with some asphyxiating underneath the piles of people who had fallen down over each other.

sad tramp clown Emmett Kelly “the day the clowns cried.”

Because of a picture that appeared in several newspapers of sad tramp clown Emmett Kelly holding a water bucket, the event became known as “the day the clowns cried.”

The best-known victim of the circus fire was a young blonde girl wearing a white dress. She is known only as “Little Miss 1565”, named after the number assigned to her body at the city’s makeshift morgue. Oddly well preserved even after her death, her face has become arguably the most familiar image of the fire. Her true identity has been a topic of debate and frustration in the Hartford area since the fire occurred. She was buried without a name in Hartford’s Northwood cemetery, where a victims’ memorial also stands. Barber and Lowe spent the rest of their lives trying to identify her. They decorated her grave with flowers each Christmas, Memorial Day, and July 6. After their deaths, a local flower company continued to decorate the grave.

Laws passed in Connecticut shortly after the fire made it illegal for big tops to be used (though at the time of the fire big tops were being phased out anyway), so the Ringling Bros. circus has traditionally been held in the XL Center when it visits the city.

While the circus was banned from Hartford and other parts of Connecticut for years after the Hartford fire, it began to make a comeback in the 1970s. The Ringling Brothers continued to perform in buildings, or arenas that could accommodate the size of their circus, as well as under the tent. On July 16, 1956, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the big top was struck for the last time .The circus then went from using their own portable tents to using venues, such as sports stadiums that had the seating already in place.

The cause of the fire remains unproven. Investigators at the time believed it was caused by a carelessly flicked cigarette but others suspected an arsonist. Several years later, while being investigated on other arson charges, Robert Dale Segee (1929–1997), who was an adolescent roustabout at the time, confessed to starting the blaze. He was never tried for the crime and later recanted his confession.

In 2002, the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation was established to erect a permanent memorial to the people killed in the fire. Ground was broken for the monument on July 6, 2004, at the site where the fire occurred.

Monday, 4 March 2013

Chippewa Lake Park was an amusement park once located in Chippewa Lake, Ohio. It operated from 1878 through 1978, after the final owner, Continental Business Enterprises closed it due to lack of attendance. After the park’s closure, its rides and structures were left largely untouched and unmaintained for over 30years

1875-1898
In 1875, Edward Andrews organized a picnic ground and beach under the name Andrew’s Pleasure Grounds. The park operated with some success, but its condition deteriorated. With the addition of a steam boat and the park’s first rollercoaster, the amusement park was brought to life. The initial roller coaster had to be manually pushed up the track following each ride.

1898-1969
Mac Beach, acquired Chippewa Lake in 1898 and improved the park immensely. He also placed a ban on liquor sales. Mac’s son, Parker Beach, managed the park during its boom years, the roaring ’20s. During that decade, the first modern coaster was built at the park, designed by Fred Pearce. Originally named the Big Dipper, it became better known as simply ‘the coaster’. The park also featured a live band-stand seven nights a week.

The Beach family kept the park running successfully into the 1960s. Eventually Chippewa Lake would feature three roller coasters, flying cages, a Ferris wheel, carousel, Tumble Bug, ballroom and many other rides.

1969-1978
Chippewa Lake was acquired by Continental Business Enterprises in 1969, and developed plans to transform the park into more of a summer resort, however these plans drew very little public interest and funding and most of it was scrapped. The park would later close in 1978, which was the parks centennial season, under the company’s ownership, owing to factors like competition from nearby Cedar Point and Geauga Lake amusement parks and the decline of steel and rubber production in the surrounding areas. It was largely unknown to the public that the park’s 100th season would be its last, the park closed rather secretly without any big media coverage or massive public outcry. When the park shut down, former owner Parker Beach requested to his family that he be buried there when he died, which was accepted by his family. The site where Beach’s body is buried in the park is unknown.

Abandonment and deterioration: 1978-2010
After the park’s closure in 1978, the land the park was situated on was left largely untouched and all of rides and buildings were left standing, in which up until the end of the 1990s the park remained in fairly good condition and some of the rides were still usable. By the 2000s, however, large trees began growing through rides like the coaster and the park’s ferris wheel, and several buildings had collapsed or been damaged by the effects of the elements. All of the sturctures in the park became rusted and unstable scraps without any hopes of repairs.
List of Rides and Attractions that were left standing:
Big Dipper
Wild Mouse
Little Dipper
Tumble Bug
Ferris Wheel
Flying Cages
Rocket Rods
Funhouse
Bumper Cars
Bathhouse
Hamburger Factory
Ticket Booths
Park Boat
Waffle Stand
Pee-Wee Golf
Stage
Restrooms
Carousel
Train Tracks
Train Caboose
Ballroom
Various other small buildings

In June 2002, the Chippewa Lake Park Ballroom burned down, and by 2008, several other buildings had suffered the ballroom’s fate, including the hotel, arcade, fun house, peanut stand, and maintenance building, all of which had been damaged or destroyed by fire. However, other rides and structures still stood, in various states of disrepair. These included the Big Dipper (Coaster), the Wild Mouse coaster, the Little Dipper coaster, the Tumble Bug, and the frames of the Ferris Wheels and Flying Cages. Most other buildings across the park were in various states of collapse due to 30 years of neglect by this time.

Demolition and future: 2010-present
On September 9, 2008, Chippewa Partners LLC announced plans for a development on the site called “Chippewa Landing” which would include a hotel and spa, fitness center, restaurants, a conference and music center, small shops and other entertainment venues.

Monday, 25 February 2013

In the early morning hours of June 22, 1918, Alonzo Sargent was operating a Michigan Central Railroad troop train' pulling 20 empty Pullman cars. He was aware that his train was closely following a slower circus train. Sargent, had slept little if at all in the preceding twenty-four hours. and the effects of a lack of sleep, several heavy meals, some kidney pills, and the gentle rolling of his locomotive are thought to have caused him to fall asleep at the controls.

At approximately 4:00 am, he missed at least two automatic signals and warnings posted by a brakeman of the 26-car circus train, which had made an emergency stop to check a hot box on one of the flatcars. The second train plowed into the caboose and four rear wooden sleeping cars of the circus train at a rail crossing known as Ivanhoe Interlocking (5½ miles east of Hammond, Indiana) at an estimated speed of 35 miles per hour.
The circus train held 400 performers and roustabouts of the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus. Most of the 86 who were killed in the train wreck perished in the first 35 seconds after the collision. Then, the wreckage caught on fire. Among the dead were Arthur Dierckx and Max Nietzborn of the 'Great Dierckx Brothers', a strongman act, and Jennie Ward Todd of 'The Flying Wards'. There were also 127 injuries.

Following the wreck, the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus cancel only two performances: the one in Hammond, Indiana and its next stop Monroe, Wisconsin. This was due partly by the assistance by many of its so-called competitors, including Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus lending needed equipment and performers so that the show could go on. The city of Hammond also joined in to help the surviving circus performers and workers. Many of the city’s residents and shopkeepers gave food and clothing.

Services were held five days after the train wreck. A 750 plot section of Woodlawn Cemetery (Forest Park, Illinois) is where a mass grave of 56 (or perhaps 61) employees of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus were interred.The identity of many victims of the wreck was unknown. Most of the markers note “unidentified male” (or female). One is marked “Smiley,” another “Baldy,” and “4 Horse Driver.”

Statues of five elephants surround the Showmen’s Rest section of Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. The elephants each have a foot raised with a ball underneath, and the trunks lowered. (Raised trunks are a symbol of joy and excitement; lowered trunks symbolize mourning). The base of the large central elephant is inscribed with “Showmen’s League of America”. On the others are the words “Showmen’s Rest”. Some nearby residents say the sounds of ghostly elephants can be heard at night. However, as a note, there were no elephants that were buried there. And for those looking for an explanation for the sounds, Brookfield Zoo is only a few miles away.

Thursday, 21 February 2013

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

In 1894 The first ‘Wintercircus’, an indoor circus in Ghent the original winter circus was built, by architect Emile De Weerdt. In 1920 it sadly burnt down. In 1923 got rebuilt in concrete by architect Jules-Pascal Ledoux. The last performance was 28 may 1944, and then it stood empty for the first time. After that, an Renault garage -Ghislain Mahy - was housed here,using the circus to house his collection of old timers and classic cars where they added ramps for the cars to drive to the higher floors. they remained there until he left the ‘Wintercircus’ in 1978, when The city of Ghent then wanted it empty again, to demolish it and build a cinema and other cultural buildings there. For some reason that never happend, so this building still is standing in downtown Ghent. In 2008 they even repaired the roof to prevent further decay.

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Wednesday, 6 February 2013

In 1894 by father and son Alfred and Bernard Wiltshire Tollhurst opened 4 acres of land (purchased the previous year), as the 'Marine Park and Gardens'. In 1901, they opened a grand entrance pavilion, called the Kursaal, designed by Campbell Sherrin, containing a circus, ballroom, arcade, dining hall and billiard room.

On 24th July 1901, the Kursaal Funfair in Southend-On-Sea. 27 acres of wasteland had been turned into what is believed to be the world's first theme park, even pre-dating New York's Coney Island. The funfair comprised various rides and sideshows such as a man known as "Togo, the Arizona snake handler", and even had a Freak Show. Some years later a small zoo was added. It boasted the world's first ever female Wall Of Death motorbike rider. During the 1930s George "Tornado" Smith rode around the Wall Of Death, with a lioness accompanying him on his motorbike.

Part of the Kursaal was under cover, and the roof was crowned by a large and very distinctive silver dome; this dome quickly and affectionately earned the Kursaal the nickname of "By The Dome It's Known", or "the Dome". Inside the was a huge ballroom where regular dances were held and bands would play live. Off to the side of the silver dome was the Kursaal arcade, in which were a couple of rides and lots of side stalls, such as rifle ranges, skittles games, fortune tellers.

During World War II, the fairground part of the Kursaal was closed to the public and used to temporarily house soldiers returning from battle, though the dome remained open so that the visiting big bands could still provide the entertainment for dances. Once the war had ended, the Kursaal was then re-opened to the public, and entered into what for most local people and day trippers from East London, was its absolute heyday - the 1940s, through to the early 1960s.

The Kursaal even had its own train, known as the Kursaal Flyer, and this was used every year in the Southend carnival as one of the floats.

During the 1950's the the ball room, each Friday and Saturday night was open till late with either a night of dancing or roller skating. The roof was filled with balloons and during the night the ballon net was released on to the dance floor. At the end of the night there would be a row of coaches and cars outside to take people home, weather it be to London or chelmsford.

In the late 1950s an accident accrued on the tubs which resulted in the death of a man, and the one of the tubs being derailed and another being trapped.

As the 1960s progressed, the Kursaal began to fall into decline in popularity. Instead of spending their holidays at British seaside resorts, people began to go on Mediterranean package holidays in their droves. Though the Kursaal still did have visitors, fewer people thought of a day trip to Southend as a good thing to do; therefore, more use was made of the ballroom inside of the dome - wrestling matches would be held on a weekly basis, and a small piece of filming for the 1960s cult TV programme "The Prisoner" was made inside of the fairground. As we moved into the late 1960s and all through the 1970s, the Kursaal became a popular venue for rock bands to perform live concerts - Status Quo there in 1970s for three days.

The decline continued though, and by the time the 1980s were upon us, the visitors had dwindled down to a level where it was no longer considered profitable to keep the fairground open - so, very sadly it closed.

A decision was made to turn the fairground part of the Kursaal into a housing estate, and the bulldozers moved in. The dome of the Kursaal remains though, and back in the 1990s an attempt was made to revamp the inside and once again make it one of Southend's major attractions. Nowadays, the inside of the Kursaal dome boasts the Rendezvous casino, a restaurant, a bowling alley and a couple of bars.

Saturday, 2 February 2013

I have been following The UNICEF blog of Tom Hinddleston, with the amazing work that they do.
Here is a small extract from Tom Hinddleston’s blog:

“Before we set off on the road to visit these rural communities, we stop off to visit Project Tinafan. We drive past football pitches, past a blurred quilt of football club colours from all around the world, but we drive past the football. We are here to watch the circus. Tinafan is a project designed to develop the capacities and social/economic inclusion of children who may have dropped out of school, and depend on their livelihood on meagre income from unskilled labour. Tinafan uses training in the circus arts to strengthen their confidence, bolster their interpersonal skills, and help them trust each other. All of this sounds a little dry. As far as I can see, as soon as I open the car door, these children are dancing. I hear pounding drums. I see running, jumping, smiling, free-wheeling, cart-wheeling energy rushing towards me. I see fit, strong, smiling, athletes, fit to burst. The thoughtfulness brought on by what I had seen at Donka was instantly dispelled by the sheer, thrilling, joy radiating from these children. We were invited inside the gym where they train to watch a show. A band was already whipping the crowd into a frenzy, while activity billowed behind a curtain. The band consisted of at least five drummers and two xylophones and little else. Their rhythm was propulsive and electric. I’m not sure what my expectations were, but they were entirely blown out of the water. I must be as honest as I can: these children are world-class performers of astonishing athleticism and grace. The best among them, I later learned, have toured the world with circus troupes. Their performance was explosive and dizzying – acrobatics, human pyramids, trampolining, contortionists – a display of strength, flexibility and precision on a par with, if not beyond, the very best physical performances I have seen in ballet, contemporary dance, or Cirque du Soleil. They performed with raw joy. Their trainer “Prince” also teaches them how to paint, emphasising to me that how important it is for his students to understand the power of passion and positivity in creativity after the human body passes its peak.”

Friday, 1 February 2013

The Sells Floto Circus was a combination of the Floto Dog & Pony Show and the Sells Brothers Circus that toured with sideshow acts in the United States during the early 1900s.They had eighteen full grown lions and lionesses traveling with them. Including two of the best black mane Nubian male lions in the world. They were a very rare breed displayed in the show. The lions were on parade at the Tucson location and seen in the two mile street circus parade.